Split Pea Soup... So Hearty for a Winter Day!

This Split Pea Soup is good for you, as well as it is delicious! There is nothing better than a bowl of hot, hearty soup on a cold winter day or any day for that matter. It's easy, too! Simple ingredients and the serving tips add another layer of flavor. This soup is so yummy and it made enough to eat right away for lunch or dinner and enough to freeze for another cold winter day. Add a couple of slices of crusty bread and ENJOY!

Expressed Your Love Through Food!

INGREDIENTS

1 16 oz Bag of Green Split Peas

1/3 cup of Pancetta diced

2 mediums Onion chopped

2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

4 Cloves Garlic sliced

1 cup Carrots Chopped Small (approx. 2 large carrots)

1 cup Celery Chopped Small (approx. 3 large stalks)

8 cups Chicken or Vegetable Stock

1-2 cups of water

1 tablespoon Pink Himalaya Salt

1/2 teaspoon Fresh Ground Pepper

1 tablespoon minced Fresh Thyme

Fresh chopped Flat Leaf Parsley for serving

Goat Cheese for serving

INSTRUCTIONS

Rinse dried split peas in water.

Do not soak the split peas prior to cooking.

Sauté pancetta in olive oil on medium heat in a thick-bottomed pot or dutch oven. Add the onions and stir to coat, cook the onions until just soft. Make space for the garlic by moving pancetta and onions over to expose the bottom of the pan. Add garlic and cook for a minute until the garlic is fragrant. Do not brown or burn garlic or onions.

Add carrots and celery and sauté for another minute or two.

Add split peas and stir to incorporate, sauté for a few minutes more.

Add salt, pepper and thyme stir.

Add stock and water.

Increase the heat to medium high and bring soup to just boiling.

Reduce heat to low allow the soup to simmer for 2-3 hours until the peas are tender and have broken down and the soup thickens.

If soup is too thick for your liking add another 1/2 cup or 1 cup of water.

Taste and adjust salt and pepper to your liking.

Ladle into warm soup bowls and sprinkle with parsley and place a disk of goat cheese in the center of the bowl. Instead of a disk of goat cheese you can use a dollop of sour cream or a tablespoon of goat cheese crumbles.

Express Your Love Through Food!!! ENJOY!

#soup #splitpeasoup #simpledelicioussoup #wintersoup #heartydinnersoup

Lamb Stuffed Cabbage Rolls!

A wonderful slow simmered inspired main dish, Lamb and Rice Stuffed Cabbage Rolls. Ground lamb makes for a unique and delicious taste. I have had beef cabbage rolls before, but these are so much more tasty. This recipe makes 14 stuffed rolls which the leftovers can easily be frozen to enjoy later. Expressing Your Love Through Food!

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs of Ground Lamb

3 Eggs lightly beaten

1 Medium onion chopped

2 Garlic cloves minced

1/2 cup seasoned Bread Crumbs

1/2 cup uncooked white Rice

1 teaspoon fresh Thyme minced

3/4 teaspoon Dried Oregano

1-1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground Pepper

1 cup homemade Tomato Sauce https://www.myinspiredrecipes.com/post/the-versatile-tomato-sauce

1 large head of Cabbage

3 cups homemade Tomato Sauce for Baking

INSTRUCTIONS

Bring a large pot of water to a boil while you make the lamb stuffing.

Stuffing:

Add lamb, onion, garlic, rice, breadcrumbs, egg and spices to a large mixing bowl. Gently mix all ingredients until combined, do not over mix. Add one cup of tomato sauce to the lamb mixture and gently incorporate. Set aside.

Cabbage:

To make cabbage rolls, place 1 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a large oven proof pan or casserole dish and set aside.

Cut the core out of the cabbage and place the entire head of cabbage in the boiling water.

With a pair of tongs remove each leaf as it softens. You want them pliable not cooked through. This step goes very fast. Remove each leaf to a plate.

Remove the hard rib from the bottom of each cabbage leaf with a knife. Scoop 1/3 cup of filling and shape into an oval. Place oval near the top edge of each leaf and roll up toward the bottom edge, folding the sides in as you roll.

Place the cabbage rolls, seam sides down, over the sauce.

Add all the cabbage rolls until you have placed all the cabbage rolls in the pan. Pour the remaining sauce over the cabbage rolls. Cover the dish tightly with the lid or foil and bake for 1-1/2 hours or until the meat is cooked and the rice is tender. Let rest for 5 minutes and serve hot.

Enjoy! #myinspiredrecipes #stuffedcabbagerolls #lambdish #groundlamb

The Versatile Tomato Sauce!

A wonderful slow simmered tomato sauce that has so many uses, pastas, braises, soups and much more. I used leftover sauce for another inspired main dish Lamb and Rice Stuffed Cabbage Rolls. This sauce freezes well, I ladle it into a large muffin tin and freeze so I can use one or two individual sauces as needed. There are optional ingredients listed which you can use or eliminate. Either with or without these ingredients the sauce is just as delicious. Expressing Your Love Through Food!

INGREDIENTS

Optional 2-3 oz Pancetta chopped

Olive oil

1 large onion chopped

4 garlic cloves sliced (not too thin)

2 tablespoons of tomato paste

Optional 1 tablespoon anchovy paste or one anchovy filet

3 cans San Marzano Italian Plum Tomatoes

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

1 beef bullion cube

1 tomato can of water 28oz

Optional 2 beef soup bones

1 teaspoon Salt

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground Pepper

Optional Red pepper flakes - a sprinkle (more if you like it spicy)

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat olive oil in an stock pot or dutch oven over medium heat and add pancetta and onions and sauté for a few minutes until tender add garlic to the pan and sauté until fragrant. Add the tomato paste and anchovy if using and cook for a minute to release the flavor.

Add the canned tomatoes. Crush the whole tomatoes squeezing them with your hand, this keeps some of the tomatoes "chunky". Add the spices, bullion cube, water, salt and pepper and increase heat to bring to a slight boil. Add in the beef bones and reduce to a simmer. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Simmer for 2-3 hours.

(Note: You can always add more seasoning in you can't take it out.)

Enjoy! #myinspiredrecipes #tomatosauce #sundaytomatosauce